Which way can I see it all???

We're coming by car, from Inverness to Portree Isle of Skye [2 nights]. Along the way - in one day - I want to see Loch Ness, Fort Augustus & Eileen Donan Castle before arriving in Portree. And then leaving Portrush via the Mallaig Ferry and Road to isles [A830], Fort Willian, etc to Stirling - in one day. I'm wondering about the time involved...is the drive from Portrush to Stirling just too long that it would be better to arrive on the Road to Isles/Maillag Ferry and then leave Portrush for Stirling via the northern Skye Bridge and see the Eileen Donan Castle on the way out?

Use the bridge to Skye and you'll pass right by Eileen Donan. Use the A87 after Fort Augustus instead of the A887 which a gps might try to talk you into.

Coming off Sky, the bridge route would be maybe a half hour faster than a perfect ferry match, but you'd drive the same road you did a couple of days before. Make a ferry reservation and meet it - - you should anyway, sometimes they clobber unexpectedly.

I'm saying that I'd take the bridge over and the ferry back for the simple change if scenery.

Taking the bridge on the return would save only thirty minutes with a perfect ferry connection, maybe an hour with a little waiting/embarkation/debarkation slop. You'd still have enough time for everything on that day.

Wait for Pamela to open her yap before you decide. She often has ideas better than mine and might suggest a detour/deviation or two that you haven't thought about. More importantly, she really appreciates Stirling and can give you an accurate idea if how long you'll need there. I ducked back down there a few months ago because she raves about it and thought maybe I'd missed something --- but left in an hour shaking my head that I'd burned half a stinking day. The gal's a whiz although we don't always agree -- pay attention to her.

The route is easily doable, and I would always say if going to Skye try and do the journey one each way. Eilean Donan is spectacular however approached, but I always think I looks better from the sea, as that is how it was designed to look. However going both ways means you get to see Eilean Donan and Glenfinnan, neither are to be missed in that part of the world in my opinion.

The route to Stirling is liable to take you through Doune, the castle there is worth a detour, just ask for the coconuts. As for Stirling, one of the best views in Scotland is, in my opinion, from the battlements of the castle across the Forth Valley below. I also love the view of the castle driving across the plain on the M9.